What 5/25 Comics I Would Recommend

Hehe...Memorial Day screws everything up...hehe.

Spoilers ahead!!

Ultimate Iron Man #2



I liked #1 well enough, but was not totally thrilled.

This issue, however, was a good deal better.

Card spent the whole issue really giving us extremely layered personalities for not just the main characters (including a delightfully despicable villain, a heroically noble father and a down-to-Earth, funny young Tony), but also the minor characters.

Like the assistant who gives up her life essentially just to serve the project, or the assistant whose mind is taken away from him for refusing to help the villain, yet he still manages to be heroic.

In addition, the nice little touches of how the Starks operate were nice.

Kubert's art is not exactly my cup of tea, but he does everything by the books.

Good issue.

Captain America #6



This was probably my least favorite issue of the run so far, which speaks to the quality of the title, I think, that I am still recommending it to others.

Epting's art is top notch, and while this issue reads a bit too much like "advancing the plot" for my tastes, it still had all the fundamentals in place for a good story.

Characters you care about acting in a believable manner against a compelling villain under circumstances interesting enough to make you curious about what will happen next.

All of them were present in this issue, so I would certainly recommend it.

Sleeper Season 2 #12



This Brubaker book, however, I think was a stronger issue.

This issue ends the run of Holden Carver as one of the most interesting protagonists in comics, and really, we all knew the book would have to end in a manner like this...so that it ended up as good as it did (with the readers all pretty much knowing what was going to occur at each step) is a testamount to Brubaker's writing skill.

Sean Phillips is awesomely good on the art.

One of the major disappointments of Brubaker's Marvel exclusive is that there are no more works by him in this playpen.

Legion of Superheroes #6



I'm never one to repeat myself, so here is why I would recommend this issue.

Power Pack #3



I will occasionally cop to judging some books a bit lighter than I normally would just because of my fondness for the characters, but I think that I am being fair when I tell you that I would recommend Power Pack #3 to you all.

It is a fun story with a really good Fantastic Four team-up, with Jack Power and Johnny Storm seeing parallels in the other.

The art is a bit too kiddish, but the story is just the right balance of all-ages goodness, I think.

Ultimates 2 #6



This is a tough one.

I think that this issue is good enough to be recommended.

HowEVER, if this type of story is the STANDARD, rather than the abberation, for this title, then I would not recommend this series.

The cynicism on this book is so thick it could kill an elephant.

And I have no real problem with cynicism in an issue or so, but when it becomes the driving force behind a title, THEN I have a problem.

I have a sneaking suspicion that cynicism WILL be the driving force behind the rest of this series, but I am willing to allow that Millar might pleasantly surprise me.

I really hope he does.

I don't think he will, though.

In addition, three other points on the issue:

1. I do not think that Hitch should ink his own pencils.

2. I give Millar a lot of grief over his cynicism, but I did not catch anything specifically bad about his take on the Defenders. I do not think he was making any sort of statement upon the actual Defenders.

3. The Vision line was quite humorous.

Batman #640



Judd Winick is doing a really good job on this title, and the art has been a great strength due to Doug Mahnke's wonderful work, but Paul Lee did a really good job filling in this issue.

In any event, Winick gives us a Superman/Batman interaction we have not seen in a long while...an actual NON-depressing one!

And while he can't seem to create any personalities over in Outsiders, Winick does a bang-up job creating a very interesting personality for the Red Hood.

This was overall a very fun issue with an interesting cliffhanger.

The following comics I liked well enough, but I would not go as far as to say I recommend them:

Batgirl #64 - This was a really interesting fight between Batgirl and Deathstroke's daughter, the Ravager. I think I would have recommended it if I was not so put off on the whole Infinite Crisis stuff.

JLA #114 - This was a good issue, but it was so tied up in continuity I couldn't honestly recommend it to others.

Girls #1 - I think the Luna brothers overdid it with the protagonist. We have to SORTA give a crap about him. Well, I didn't, which I think dashed a lot of good work on their part otherwise (and I like the art).

Common Foe #1 - This was a good introductory issue by Giffen, but I will wait til' next issue, when the plot really unfolds, to see if I will recommend this story of a group of American and German soldiers during World War II who have to team up to fight some demons.

Machine Teen #1 - The story was just too simple to recommend. Still, fun issue. I bet next issue will be a step-up, plot-wise!

Runaways #4 - I am sorry, I just am growing tired of the plot. I hope they more or less wrap it all up next issue and move on to another story, as I enjoy the characters.

X-23 #6 - This was waaay too good for a mini-series about X-23. Chris Yost and Craig Kyle deserve some sort of medal for making X-23 THIS interesting.

That's it for me...what did y'all think of the week that was?

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